Parchment mill project making progress slowly

PARCHMENT — It will be at least spring before work begins on tearing down Parchment’s vacant paper-mill buildings. But despite a delay in progress, city officials are still optimistic about redevelopment of the property.

An initial agreement with River Reach Partners LLC, developer of the property, called for demolition to begin this month or the 85 acres of former mill property purchased by River Reach last December would revert back to the city.

But City Manager Dennis Durham said the project has gotten behind schedule because of delays by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which must sign off on work plans before they can begin.

Those delays, which have put the project back five to six months, were caused by a lack of resources, a heavy workload and a lack of timely follow-ups by the state agency, Durham said.

In asking the City Commission to allow up to nine more months for MDEQ reviews and approvals to take place, Durham said the city, River Reach and environmental consultant Environmental Resources Management have made significant behind-the-scenes progress this year in preparation for the demolition of mill buildings and the subsequent $100 million multiuse development of the property.

The property was abandoned by the Crown Vantage Paper Co. in 2000.

Durham said he expects that progress to continue.

“I’m comfortable this project is going to move forward with breakneck speed over the next six months,” he said.

Jeff Kroll, senior real estate manager for Frontier Renewal, one of the River Reach partners, and overall project manager for the mill-property redevelopment, attended Monday’s City Commission meeting and expressed equal optimism.

“We’re very excited about 2010 and we’re very excited about the whole project,” he said.

The City Commission also agreed Monday to pay up to $280,000 of its $2 million commitment to the project over the next several months. The management fees will be paid to River Reach as it completes various milestones, such as removing abandoned chemical drums and storage tanks, completing a building materials assessment and demolition specifications, and removing asbestos and conducting interior demolition of the buildings.

“It’s just a changing of the schedule, not of the investment amount,” Durham said of the planned distribution of the money.

River Reach Partners has invested more than $1.5 million in the development so far, Durham said.

Another milestone, developing a partnership or sales agreement with a developer to begin constructing residences and retail property, will be a big step forward for the project, both Durham and Kroll told commissioners.

“It’s very important to push the first domino on this and watch the others fall,” Durham said.

Added Kroll: “We need to get people building on the site, living on the site and shopping on the site. ... Getting vertical construction on the property is the real catalyst that is going to get this project steamrolling all the way through.”